summer already????

Well it's still Spring for sure, but In So Cal you never know when you are gonna have some summer weather. One days it's 75 degrees outside and then the next day its raining. A couple weeks ago they enjoyed some at their friend Andrew's birthday party. Looks like the summer fun is on the way!!

Macail was Chloe's new best friend of the day :)Getting a little pep talk from Morgan :)Let's eat cake!Before the party Chloe was asking if there was gonna be a pinata there? She was very happy! Both kids "really" hit it this time and both Dustin and I were a little too excited about that! :) Don't let her face fool you, she asked for the "princess hat."

relationships are what we make of them (keeping it real, again)

This blog entry on a photography blog that I follow mixed with my feelings lately on and about life got me to thinking, too much probably. I just haven't been able to get this post out of my mind, and really why do I have to? I loved it, it made me happy, made me sad, made me smile and made me cry all at the same time. I think it's because it's what we ALL want at the end of the day. Someone who loves up unconditionally and champions us at all times.

I also think that this is what makes the Twilight saga and other "chick flicks" and books so popular. We all want the perfect partner and romance. But while we love those things are we losing site of the bigger picture? Let me go into a few things that I think about...

courting and dating:These are things that we are really good at when a relationship is new, but then a lot of the times it stops of slows down. Why? Life I guess!! That doesn't make it OK! I believe that this is something that needs to always be done. You choose to be with this person and so you should always make them feel special. Keep up those little things and keep dating and courting them. It's the little things that make such a big difference sometimes. Flowers, texts, a fav food item on the way home, a call during the day, a card. This is so important in making someone feel special!!

appearances:This is a hard one for me personally. For those who have known me a long time you know that my skin has always been an issue. Here I am 32 and back on medication for acne. I mean really, is it ever gonna stop? This puts me into quite a depression some days, then the fact that my body isn't the size I want it to be, and really who's is...I know. But these are my issues at the moment. Truth is most days I don't wear makeup or do my hair any sort of cute style and heck, some days I don't even get a shower. That's reality! I stay home most days and that doesn't require me to look all glammed up! On the other hand, I do try and take pride in my appearance. I think it's so important that you continue to want to impress your partner and have them melt when they look at you. You want your kids to know that you care about yourself and that it's OK to do that. We can't get lazy and forget who we are and when our spouses tell us we look nice we HAVE to believe them even if we aren't feeling it at the moment.:)

praise:We know how important it is to praise our children daily, but do we also do the same for our spouse and friends?? I mean, I love to hear that someone thinks I'm doing a good job at something so why shouldn't I share the love. It's so easy and can give such a boost mentally to someone. I know I work hard at home and that my hubby works his tail off at work, but do I tell him often enough how proud and happy I am that he does it?? We need to make sure we are as quick with the compliments as most people are with the negativity most of the time! I think this could make a huge difference in a couples happiness.

This is getting way long and so I will stop here. I just know that a relationship of any kind takes a lot of work on BOTH sides, but is so worth it. I have a great one, but there is always room for improvement and I will always continue to try and do so. I make my own perfect romance and it's unique to only me. Life really is what you make of it and I want to make mine great!!

some snap shots

On the way to mom and dad P's a few weeks ago we had to stop off at the store for a quick minute. While Dustin was in the store we had a little fun!!


We also had some fun when we got to Mammy and Grandpa's.

Christian worked on a puzzle with Uncle Ryan and Grandma PetersonDustin snuggled with MakaiTyler was very good to Christian on the piano and Christian loved it!Chloe LOVES babies and really wanted to hold baby Makai. Maybe not so much fun when he's hungry!Not the smallest baby to hold either! :)

family pics

I just realized that I never posted any of our family pictures that Jen captured of us when she was out for a visit in March. Here are just a few of my favorites. :)

Don't let her fool you, she does love me!The handsome boys!

the ugly truth ( keeping it real)

We all get in a funk, a rut, a little depressed, PMS (men too)or what ever you want to call it. It's life and we all go through it at different points. So maybe I'm in one and that's why I feel like having an honest minute. Actually, I was going to have a different one, but then saw a post by a friend and decided to save my original for another time, maybe next week.

Here's the truth...I'M NOT PERFECT!! Hard to imagine, I know!! The point of this is that I think that most of us are too hard on ourselves and compare too much or imagine a fairy-tale dream land. It's so easy to get caught up in things that we "think" are real. So called "reality" shows that are completely edited, blogs, chat rooms,office relationships, and even some friendships. These are things that we only spend a certain amount of time with maybe each day and only get to see what they want us too. And really, it's only going to be the good. Anyone can do this and make themselves look like a saint!! If you were to factor in all the realities of "real" life, it may not seem as appealing, well I guarantee it. Anyone can edit themselves to look awesome and seem awesome!

My point is to just be happy with you! I know it's easier said than done, trust me I know. But to compare yourself and aspects of your life to someone/something that could be as fake as most Hollywood is, just isn't worth the effort. Stop focusing on what you aren't and focus on who YOU are.

We don't know what goes on behind closed doors and that's just the ugly truth!!

Easter 2010

This Eater was a quiet one for us and we enjoyed it very much. We stayed home! Life seems way too busy sometimes and it was nice to "just be" for a while. Really, I'm not sure if we ever even made it out of our pj's. :)

The kids woke up, well Christian first, so then we woke Chloe up and went to find the baskets that the Easter Bunny had filled during the night. Then the hunt was on (indoors due to cold weather)for the ever popular eggs. The kids had a blast finding them, but Chloe was a bit slower as she wanted to open each one as she found it.

We made a yummy pork roast, mashed potatoes, broccoli and rolls. No pictures to show since I was too busy eating it! ;)

It was a great relaxing day with our little family!!

lets make...

bread sticks and lemonade!!!

The kids love to help in the kitchen and some days it takes all we have to muster up the patience to let them "help." This was their lucky day with dad!!

Christian really wanted bread sticks so Dustin decided to make some with him. Such a good daddy!!

messy hands=a job well doneThis girl LOVES to clean, so she was happy to lend dad a hand.
Then it was time to make some fresh lemonade. This has become one of Christian's favorite things to help with.
Chloe tried to help, but decided she liked to taste it instead.